Al-Marri indicted on terrorism-related charges

Saturday

The U.S. Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss a pending complaint by a former West Peoria man detained for more than five years as an “enemy combatant.”

The U.S. Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss a pending complaint by a former West Peoria man detained for more than five years as an “enemy combatant.”

Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, 43, was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Peoria on charges he conspired from July 2001 until his arrest on Dec. 12, 2001, to help al-Qaida. A second charge accuses him of providing material support and resources to the terrorist group.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the charges show the government’s resolve to “protect the American people and prosecute alleged terrorists to the full extent of the law.”

The charges were sealed until Friday morning, and afterward, the Justice Department announced its request for dismissal of the complaint. If successful, the move would block the Supreme Court from weighing in on whether the government during wartime can hold someone indefinitely without charges.

“Even if the government does it, our view is the issues are not settled and the court needs to review this use of military detention power so it doesn’t happen again,” said Jonathan Hafetz, one of al-Marri’s lawyers. “This is an important first step but it is just a first step.”

Northwestern University law professor James Pfander said it’s an interesting question.

“I think the Supreme Court can do whatever it wants with the proposed dismissal of the action,” he said, noting that in law, courts intervene only when there is a controversy.

“The law of mootness says that generally speaking if there is no longer a controversy, then the courts are to pass on the issue.”

Al-Marri’s military detention will end soon so the government says the issue is settled. However, civil libertarians have argued the need to address the matter so it is determined, once and for all, what is legal and what isn’t.

This would be the second time the court has had a chance to address the issue.

That earlier case involved Jose Padilla, a former Chicago gang member accused of being involved in a plot to detonate a radioactive “dirty bomb” in the United States

He was dubbed an “enemy combatant,” and just as the court was to take up his legal challenge, he was charged in a civilian court where he was ultimately convicted on terrorism-related charges.

Al-Marri’s case has been seen by some as an early sign of how the Obama administration will handle terrorism detainees. The high court agreed to hear the case in December on the heels of a splintered 4th Circuit Court of Appeals decision last summer that said al-Marri could be held by the government but that he had the right to challenge that detention.

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the Richmond University School of Law, said the 4th Circuit opinion did little to clear up the law regarding military detentions. It’s 50-50 whether the Supreme Court will agree to dismiss al-Marri’s case, he said.

“I think it is not clear. Some of this is unpredictable and depends upon other events,” he said, saying the case has political and legal ramifications.

Andrew Savage, another of al-Marri’s attorneys, said his client was in “good spirits” and addressed the new charges in a “very business-like fashion.”

“He is relieved to know what his future will be,” Savage said. “In his mind, his incarceration was indefinite. It could have lasted a week, a year, 10 years or a lifetime. That was one of his greatest burdens. He didn’t know.”

Al-Marri will likely be transferred from the naval brig in Charleston, S.C., where he has been held in solitary confinement since June 2003, soon after a hearing in Charleston known as a “Rule 5” hearing in which a prisoner has a chance to contest his extradition to another state.

Savage said a date has not been set for when al-Marri would appear before a judge in Charleston or in Peoria.

The two-page indictment had no details on what the Qatar national did or how he did it. The charges carry prison terms of up to 15 years on each count.

“The indictment alleges that Ali al-Marri provided material support to al-Qaida, which has committed horrific terrorist acts against our nation,” said U.S. Attorney Rodger Heaton in a statement. “As a result, he will now face the U.S. criminal justice system, where his guilt or innocence will be determined by a jury in open court.”

The charges come a month after President Barak Obama ordered the Justice Department to review the al-Marri file before the Supreme Court took up the issue.

Al-Marri was arrested in December 2001, and brought to New York as a witness for a federal grand jury investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

A month later, he was indicted on charges of credit card fraud and later of lying to the FBI. The case was transferred back to Peoria in 2003 at al-Marri’s request and then dropped altogether in June 2003, when President George W. Bush declared him an enemy combatant.

Government officials have said al-Marri came to Peoria under the guise of getting his master’s degree at Bradley University, but his intent was to lead a second wave of attacks against America.

Found on his laptop were files relating to the use of poisons and chemical weapons, as well as videos and photos regarding Osama bin Laden and jihad. Authorities claim he trained at an Afghani terrorist camp. He, through his attorneys, has repeatedly denied that.

Those earlier federal charges were dismissed by U.S. District Judge Michael Mihm in such a way that the government could not refile them. Mihm will again be the presiding judge.

Andy Kravetz can be reached at (309) 686-3283 or akravetz@pjstar.com.

Al-Marri Indictment

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